Nemat Arash, Asady Abdullah
Department of Microbiology, Kabul University of Medical Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021 Aug 3;14:2043-2045. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S325696. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 has spread to almost all countries since its emergence from Wuhan, China. Afghanistan has entered the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2021. The county is bracing the third wave at a time when challenges like continuous conflict, illiteracy, poverty, inadequate healthcare personnel and service coverage, inadequate testing capacity, shortage of laboratory kits and reagents, lower public awareness and lower public trust on the government have brought it to its knees. All stakeholders including government, healthcare workers, civil societies, the public and the international community should combine their efforts to combat such a devastating situation. Although the inception of vaccination program against COVID-19 seems relieving, but it may take several months until a significant proportion of the people get vaccinated to reach the herd immunity. Thus, non-pharmaceutical intervention should be followed strictly. Moreover, awareness campaigns should also be continued to educate people and keep them supportive of the government plans and policies. Otherwise, the current wave may cause deadly consequences in such a complex situation.
自新冠病毒从中国武汉出现以来，已传播至几乎所有国家。阿富汗于2021年5月进入新冠疫情第三波。该国在面临持续冲突、文盲、贫困、医疗人员和服务覆盖不足、检测能力不足、实验室试剂盒和试剂短缺、公众意识较低以及公众对政府信任度较低等挑战之际，正应对第三波疫情，这些挑战已使其不堪重负。包括政府、医护人员、民间社会、公众和国际社会在内的所有利益相关者应共同努力应对这一毁灭性局面。尽管新冠疫苗接种计划的启动似乎令人宽慰，但可能需要数月时间，直到很大一部分人接种疫苗以实现群体免疫。因此，应严格遵循非药物干预措施。此外，还应继续开展宣传活动，教育民众并使其支持政府的计划和政策。否则，在如此复杂的情况下，当前这波疫情可能会导致致命后果。
